A variety of disclosures exist in the art regarding the syntheses of .alpha.-aminonitriles, which contain the characteristic linkage --N--C(CN)--, including the following:
U.S. Pat. No. 4,551,526 to K. H. X. Mai et al. prepares aminonitriles by reacting an aldehyde or ketone with trimethylsilyl cyanide to prepare .alpha.-trimethylsilyloxynitrile which is then reacted with a monoamine or water in the presence of a lower alkyl alcohol or water to form the desired .alpha.-aminonitrile.
Japanese Patent Publication No. 75/94,122 describes N-alkylglycinonitriles of the general formula ##STR2## where R.sup.1 is C.sub.10 -C.sub.20 alkyl and R.sup.2 and R.sup.3 are hydrogen or lower alkyl. The synthesis procedure uses a monoamine reagent.
German Offenlegungsschrift No. 2,442,239 describes .alpha.-aminonitriles which also contain a single amino nitrogen radical.
U.S. Pat. No. 2,164,781 to C. Platz et al., although showing .alpha.-aminonitriles containing a single amino nitrogen radical, also contains a suggestion that diamines containing a high molecular radical, such as dodecyl, can also be used as a starting reagent and can be reacted with an aldehyde and cyanide source to form the desired .alpha.-aminonitrile. This patent mentions dodecyldiethylethylene diamine of the formula ##STR3## as an example of such a diamine to use.